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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §31.0.18.pr

Legacy of a Slave Conditioned on Non-Ownership

Passage 4744 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that a testator can bind their heir to give a specific slave to a beneficiary, provided that the slave is not already in the beneficiary's possession at the time of the testator's death.

[CELSUS libro septimo decimo digestorum. ] §31.0.18.prHeredem meum ita tibi obligare possum, ut si, quandoque ego moriar, tuus seruus Stichus non erit, dare eum tibi damuas sit.
[CELSUS, in the seventeenth book of his digests.] I can so bind my heir to you that, if whenever I die your slave Stichus shall not be yours, he shall be bound to give him to you.

Notes

  1. §31.0.18.prdamnas sit — The indeclinable legal term damnas, functioning as a noun or adjective, is combined here with the present subjunctive sit within the ut-clause to express the obligation 'shall be bound' or 'is to be condemned'.
  2. §31.0.18.prtuus seruus Stichus non erit — The possessive tuus functions as a predicative complement to the copula erit, meaning 'if Stichus is not your slave (i.e., not in your ownership)'. This condition is necessary because an obligation to give what already belongs to the creditor is void.
  3. §31.0.18.prquandoque — A general relative adverb meaning 'whenever', referring to the uncertain time of the testator's future death.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §31.0.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:31.0.18.pr

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